Global Fever

With massive media coverage, Academy Awards, and growing debates, Global Warming is obviously a hot topic today. Just last week the cover of Time Magazine pictured a penguin while boasting of a 51 step survival guide and less than a year ago a polar bear walked across the magazine’s cover next to the warning “Be Worried. Be Very Worried.”

In the past few weeks, I’ve heard a few individuals mention a hype about global cooling that took place in the 70’s. After a little searching, I found a Time article from June of 1974 titled “Another Ice Age?”

This article stated “that the atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three decades.” And tragically that the cooling “trend shows no indication of reversing.” I wonder if people really feared the threat of another Ice Age? Were there images of people living in an ice cave, barefoot and huddled around a small fire with nothing but a tattered animal fur barely covering their upper body?

Maybe that fear existed, but it seems that a more hysterical fear has emerged from the new global heating trend with certainty that that the warming is caused by human activity. As opposed to entirely blaming the human race, and the Hummers they drive, the 1970 article at least mention a more logical cause. The common sense statement assessed that the “changing weather is apparently connected with differences in the amount of energy that the earth’s surface receives from the sun.” What a mind blowing concept – the sun effects the temperature on planet earth.

It seems at the time, the notion that man could have a drastic effect on the earth was not a notion widely believed. After mentioning the role of the sun, the article was only willing to go so far as to say that “Man, too, may be somewhat responsible for the cooling trend.”

“May” and “somewhat” are words far from today’s accusations made towards man causing global warming. If man can change the weather, I certainly wish we could get rid of this cold and snowy weather and bring on summertime. Would it help if I bought a Hummer?

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This entry was posted on April 12, 2007 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Politics.
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This whole global warming thing confuses me. Librals and conservitives give such contrasting information that it is obviouse that one side is either completely misinformed or out right lying. One side says that this scientist said this, while another scientist believes completely differently. As a God fearing woman I know that we won’t live here forever anyway. But I also think that it’s our job to take care of it best we can. Although, it’s not my MAIN concern.

Also, I’m glad that I’m not the only person that has a strategy in eating sweets. Robert says I’m wierd for thinking about how I will eat a candy bar. Now I know…I may be wierd, but not any more wierder than Jared.